First time RV renters

[gibbens]

My family is planning to rent an RV in the SF Bay Area this summer for a road trip to Yellowstone and possibly beyond. We have 3 kids age 5,8 and 10.

Any tips for first time renters? Should we go through an outfit like Cruise America or find a private party etc?

Any advice would be useful as we sort through lots of options.

Thanks!

[PNW Judy]

Your family should enjoy it. Welcome to the Roadtrip America forums!

Are you flying into SF or do you live in the area? If flying in, where all do you want to visit besides Yellowstone? And how much time do you have for the trip?

If you'd like to share your interests, ideas, etc., we can help you with some suggestions.

I would rent from a rental outfit like CruiseAmerica or one of the other bigger agencies. If you have a breakdown, what is the private RV owner going to do for you? Are they going to get a replacement RV to you pronto so you can continue your trip? I doubt it but a rental agency will. For that reason alone, I'd avoid the private RV owner.

[Southwest Dave]

Hi,

I agree with Judy about renting an RV privately, it comes with risks that for me are not worth it. However there are smaller local company's you can compare prices and services with if you are returning it to the same place you collected it from rather than a one way trip. Cruise America and El Monte are market leaders and CA always seem to come up with the better price, especially if they have something that suits your needs on there "Hot deals" link, so be sure to check it out. There is a small company that services the SF area that I have used before and was very pleased with the service they offered. The homes were modern, clean and well cared for and they offered a pick up and drop of service from the airport [for an extra fee] that included a night in your RV [free] before you headed off. These are the Graner family but as they only have a few RV's it's quite possible they are all booked out.

When you are comparing rental fees make sure you add all the extra's on such as extra mileage, Ins waiver and generator use and kitchen and bedroom kits if needed. For a family the C class is the popular choice as they are well laid out and have a more familiar driving position/feel to them. Once you have adapted to the overall size and where everything is, they are quite easy to operate in all aspects and much less daunting in reality to reading about hooking up and dumping waste water etc.

You don't need reminding of it's size and extra width when you are there but you must be aware of the overhang beyond the back wheels in the larger RV's. If you are close to anything when pulling away [petrol pumps,parked car, tree etc] you need to turn out gently or the back could swipe them. Think of it as the old comedy classic of spinning around with a plank of wood on your shoulder and knocking everything over in sight Lol!

If there is anything else you wish to know just ask away but you will find lots of RV info in our road trip planning pages.

One last thing, if you want to camp in the National parks you will need to book up asap for this summer or you will not find an RV pitch.